Dead End Drive-In: Now Showing – ‘The Jam – About The Young Idea’
Written by Gaz Tidey
Sunday, 24 January 2016 03:00
The Jam – ‘About The Young Idea’ (2015 Eagle Vision)
I made the mistake of watching ‘About The Young Idea’, the feature length documentary on the history of The Jam, immediately after watching Andrew Horn’s startling ‘We Are Twisted Fucking Sister’ film: the difference between the two flicks was night and day.
Horn’s TFS flick took its time, caressing the eyes as it spent almost the entirety of its 137 minute running time on the early years of the band, climaxing before the band really became a heavy metal household name. In comparison, within twenty minutes of ‘About The Young Idea’, The Jam had formed, tinkered with the band line-up, and were performing on Top Of The Pops – this is less of the caress, more of the Jimmy/Steph knee-trembler.
I was glad that I stepped away from the digital versatile disc, though, as, after a second spin around the doc block, I found myself totally captivated by the story of Messrs Weller, Buckler, and Foxton, all ninety minutes of it.
Following a September debut on Sky Arts, ‘About The Young Idea’ arrived at retail late last year in a number of different formats, none of them in the least bit shabby. The most basic physical format, the double DVD set (reviewed here), is pretty great, so don’t hesitate if you see the Blu-ray + DVD edition, or the Deluxe Edition with book.
‘About The Young Idea’ succeeds because it eschews the usual ‘rock star talking head’ style of music filmmaking, instead focusing on fans who discovered The Jam, grew up with The Jam, and have devoted their fandom to The Jam. Okay, so one of these fans is famed actor Martin Freeman of The Office/Fargo fame, but he loves the band and, after watching, it’s hard to argue against a beat combo that somehow, call it fate, call it luck, call it genius, completely tapped into what was happening with the youth of the late seventies and early eighties.
Paul Weller is as honest here as he is cool; Bruce Foxton, Rick Buckler, and original member, Steve Brookes, not far behind. The story of the band’s rise is proper Roy of the Rovers stuff and, even though there’s a misstep here – a rushed second album – and a dropping of the ball there – an ill-fated American tour – the fact that The Jam remain so beloved without ever resorting to clichéd, money-hungry reunions and the like is the answer to every question that you can imagine in regards to the band.
Why buy if you have the Sky Arts broadcast on your planner? Well, the bonus features offer some content of real interest: a pair of songs – ‘It’s Too Bad’ and ‘Saturday’s Kids’ – live from London’s The Rainbow in December 1979; and another couple – ‘The Modern World’ and ‘The Eton Rifles’ – live from New York’s The Ritz in May 1981. There are some extra interviews too, though some could be classed as outtakes – Weller being interrupted by a passer-by, for example. The real bonus of a feature here, however, is the second disc which features the entire Rockpalast German television broadcast from 1980, all twenty-two tracks of it! The Deluxe Edition goes one better, adding a CD of the entire live show and wrapping it up in a DVD-sized forty page hardback book.
Martin Freeman says it best in the main feature: “If you like The Jam, then you LOVE The Jam.”
To pick up your copy of ‘The Jam About The Young Idea’ – CLICK HERE
